Generic prescription drugs
Posted: July 9th, 2015, 3:55 pm
A lot of Americans take prescription drugs--we are the most medicated country on earth, basically--and the vast majority of prescriptions are now filled with generic "equivalents".
All generic brands of a drug are supposed to work exactly the same. Key word? Supposed.
The reality is that there have been uncountable cases of drug recalls because some brand of a medication didn't actually work like the medication it was based on. People have actually died from problems like this.
You can read more about this issue with these links (it's way more info than I have time to write out, and others have presented the information better than I could)
http://www.peoplespharmacy.com/drug-sid ... -problems/
http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidmaris/ ... at-the-fda
If you take any prescription drugs, it would probably be in your best interest to pay attention to brand names and be aware if your brand has been switched--no matter what your pharmacist says. They're trained to parrot the "equivalent" line, but it's already been show time and time again that no, actually generics AREN'T always the same.
All generic brands of a drug are supposed to work exactly the same. Key word? Supposed.
The reality is that there have been uncountable cases of drug recalls because some brand of a medication didn't actually work like the medication it was based on. People have actually died from problems like this.
You can read more about this issue with these links (it's way more info than I have time to write out, and others have presented the information better than I could)
http://www.peoplespharmacy.com/drug-sid ... -problems/
http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidmaris/ ... at-the-fda
If you take any prescription drugs, it would probably be in your best interest to pay attention to brand names and be aware if your brand has been switched--no matter what your pharmacist says. They're trained to parrot the "equivalent" line, but it's already been show time and time again that no, actually generics AREN'T always the same.